Zonagen Shares Rise on Prospects for Impotence Drug (Update1)
Bloomberg News
January 8, 1999, 1:53 p.m. PT
Washington, Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Zonagen Inc. shares rose
13 percent on positive publicity about the reproductive health
product maker's experimental impotence drug.
In its January bulletin, the American Association of Retired
Persons ran a story suggesting that Zonagen's Vasomax drug may
offer a safe alternative to Pfizer Inc.'s blockbuster impotence
pill Viagra.
Meanwhile, David Steinberg, an analyst with Volpe Brown
Whelan, yesterday told his sales force that Zonagen is one of his
''top ideas'' for 1999. Vasomax may not have some of the drug
interaction problems seen with Viagra and may work for patients
who aren't helped by Viagra, he said.
''Viagra is a good drug, but it's not the wonder drug that
everyone thought,'' Steinberg said. Vasomax could ''be deemed
more palatable,'' he said.
Shares of Zonagen, based in The Woodlands, Texas, rose 3
5/16 to 28 1/8. The shares have climbed steadily from a closing
price of 19 1/8 on Dec. 31. Two analysts surveyed by First Call
Corp. estimated that the company lost an average of 94 cents per
share in 1998.
Zonagen and marketing partner Schering-Plough Corp. said
they are still awaiting regulatory approvals in the U.S. and
elsewhere. The drug is already available in Mexico.
Under FDA Review
Zonagen filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval
of Vasomax in July, and Schering-Plough, the world's 13th biggest
drugmaker, filed for U.K. approval in August, the companies said.
''We don't make predictions in terms of when the product is
going to be approved,'' said William O'Donnell, a spokesman for
Madison, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough. Steinberg said he
expected FDA approval of Vasomax sometime mid-year.
New York-based Pfizer, the world's sixth biggest drugmaker,
won FDA approval of Viagra in March, sparking new interest in
impotence treatments and a surge of sales for the drug. In the
second quarter, Viagra had sales of more than $400 million.
The drug's sales then dipped to $141 million in the third
quarter. Viagra doesn't work for everyone, and some patients
shied away because of reports of the dangers of the drug for
certain people, especially those already on heart medications,
analysts said.
The story in the AARP bulletin said that Vasomax may not
interact with these heart drugs, known as nitrates, and may be
safer for men with heart problems.
Vasomax makes it possible for a man to attain or maintain an
erection by increasing blood flow into the genital area and
relaxing the smooth muscles of the penis. While Pfizer's Viagra
has the same effect, it triggers the blood flow in a different
way.
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